Joan Petersilia
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195160864
- eISBN:
- 9780199943395
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195160864.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This chapter provides a profile of returning prisoners and presents data on the demographic and crime profiles of returning prisoners. It discusses race and gender, literacy and education, physical ...
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This chapter provides a profile of returning prisoners and presents data on the demographic and crime profiles of returning prisoners. It discusses race and gender, literacy and education, physical and mental illness, marital and parenting relationships, and substance abuse. Ex-prisoners are still mostly male, minority, and unskilled—yet in each of these areas, there are trends that signal significant changes. Today's inmate is likely to have been in custody several times before, has a lengthy history of alcohol and drug abuse, is more likely to be involved in gang activities and drug dealing, has probably experienced significant periods of unemployment and homelessness, and may have a physical or mental disability. Most of them have young children, with whom they hope to reunite after release, although in most cases, their children will have infrequently visited them during their incarceration.Less
This chapter provides a profile of returning prisoners and presents data on the demographic and crime profiles of returning prisoners. It discusses race and gender, literacy and education, physical and mental illness, marital and parenting relationships, and substance abuse. Ex-prisoners are still mostly male, minority, and unskilled—yet in each of these areas, there are trends that signal significant changes. Today's inmate is likely to have been in custody several times before, has a lengthy history of alcohol and drug abuse, is more likely to be involved in gang activities and drug dealing, has probably experienced significant periods of unemployment and homelessness, and may have a physical or mental disability. Most of them have young children, with whom they hope to reunite after release, although in most cases, their children will have infrequently visited them during their incarceration.
Samuel L. Myers
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300095418
- eISBN:
- 9780300129847
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300095418.003.0032
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter addresses the relationship between crime and lack of entrepreneurial opportunities by examining the connection between self-admitted drug dealing and labor force behavior. It uses prison ...
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This chapter addresses the relationship between crime and lack of entrepreneurial opportunities by examining the connection between self-admitted drug dealing and labor force behavior. It uses prison data from California, Michigan, and Texas to provide a basis for examining the characteristics of self-described drug dealers. Quantitative measures of criminal preferences and motivations for engaging crime are used to assess their impacts on both employment and crime.Less
This chapter addresses the relationship between crime and lack of entrepreneurial opportunities by examining the connection between self-admitted drug dealing and labor force behavior. It uses prison data from California, Michigan, and Texas to provide a basis for examining the characteristics of self-described drug dealers. Quantitative measures of criminal preferences and motivations for engaging crime are used to assess their impacts on both employment and crime.
Peter Alldridge
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198260578
- eISBN:
- 9780191682124
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198260578.003.0019
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
Drug offences give rise to arguments for greater police powers and resources, alteration of police ethics (because of the use of agents provocateurs and various surveillance techniques) and greater ...
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Drug offences give rise to arguments for greater police powers and resources, alteration of police ethics (because of the use of agents provocateurs and various surveillance techniques) and greater internationalisation of criminal law. In seeking descriptions of what actually is wrong with any particular offence, and how to make differentiations in gravity between differing ways of committing it, one place to start is with the cases on sentencing. The leading ‘guideline’ case on sentencing for drugs offences is Aramah, in which the judgment discloses three major reasons for criminalisation: profits, consequential crime (both by users and distributors), and harm to the user. Any satisfactory explanation of what is wrong with drug dealing must account for legal regulation of tobacco and alcohol. This chapter seeks to identify the wrong in drug dealing by drawing attention to certain analytical similarities with blackmail. It also examines drug dealing as a form of exploitation and the reasons for decriminalisation of drug dealing.Less
Drug offences give rise to arguments for greater police powers and resources, alteration of police ethics (because of the use of agents provocateurs and various surveillance techniques) and greater internationalisation of criminal law. In seeking descriptions of what actually is wrong with any particular offence, and how to make differentiations in gravity between differing ways of committing it, one place to start is with the cases on sentencing. The leading ‘guideline’ case on sentencing for drugs offences is Aramah, in which the judgment discloses three major reasons for criminalisation: profits, consequential crime (both by users and distributors), and harm to the user. Any satisfactory explanation of what is wrong with drug dealing must account for legal regulation of tobacco and alcohol. This chapter seeks to identify the wrong in drug dealing by drawing attention to certain analytical similarities with blackmail. It also examines drug dealing as a form of exploitation and the reasons for decriminalisation of drug dealing.
Robert McLean
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781529203028
- eISBN:
- 9781529203035
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529203028.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
While chapter 4 sought to explore organisational and structural properties, chapter 5 sought to provide a generic and largely descriptive account of gang activities sin relation to level of gang ...
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While chapter 4 sought to explore organisational and structural properties, chapter 5 sought to provide a generic and largely descriptive account of gang activities sin relation to level of gang organisation. Chapter 6 looks to build upon structure and activity by specifically focusing upon one, and the main, type of activity in which gangs are found to operate within. This is illegal drug supply. By doing so chapter 6 adds the relevance of context to the book discussion. The chapter opens by re-examining the supply of illegal drugs into the British Isles, and more specifically the research context (i.e. Scotland). The chapter then proceeds to outline how drug supply works in relation to context and specific level of gang organisation. YSGs are found to mainly be engaged in the social supply of drugs. YCGs are found to be involved anywhere between retail-level and wholesale drug supply. OCGs are found to be involved in importation and high-end wholesaling of drugs in the county. In addition, OCGs are also found to engage in illegal-governance and thus control to varying degrees the activities of lesser gang types within drug markets.Less
While chapter 4 sought to explore organisational and structural properties, chapter 5 sought to provide a generic and largely descriptive account of gang activities sin relation to level of gang organisation. Chapter 6 looks to build upon structure and activity by specifically focusing upon one, and the main, type of activity in which gangs are found to operate within. This is illegal drug supply. By doing so chapter 6 adds the relevance of context to the book discussion. The chapter opens by re-examining the supply of illegal drugs into the British Isles, and more specifically the research context (i.e. Scotland). The chapter then proceeds to outline how drug supply works in relation to context and specific level of gang organisation. YSGs are found to mainly be engaged in the social supply of drugs. YCGs are found to be involved anywhere between retail-level and wholesale drug supply. OCGs are found to be involved in importation and high-end wholesaling of drugs in the county. In addition, OCGs are also found to engage in illegal-governance and thus control to varying degrees the activities of lesser gang types within drug markets.
Sandra M. Bucerius
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199856473
- eISBN:
- 9780199398133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199856473.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter describes the specific drug market in which the young men participated and the business model they employed (the structure and hierarchy of the market, the partnerships they formed, ...
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This chapter describes the specific drug market in which the young men participated and the business model they employed (the structure and hierarchy of the market, the partnerships they formed, ethnic aspects, substances, purchase, delivery, storing, turfs, snitching, etc.). In many ways, the young men largely conformed to the descriptions of drug markets and drug dealers that exist in the scholarly literature on these topics; however, their particular cultural background differentiated them from other drug dealers in significant ways. At the same time, they created a business model based on the experiences of the older generation and placed specific emphasis on not letting themselves “get carried away.”Less
This chapter describes the specific drug market in which the young men participated and the business model they employed (the structure and hierarchy of the market, the partnerships they formed, ethnic aspects, substances, purchase, delivery, storing, turfs, snitching, etc.). In many ways, the young men largely conformed to the descriptions of drug markets and drug dealers that exist in the scholarly literature on these topics; however, their particular cultural background differentiated them from other drug dealers in significant ways. At the same time, they created a business model based on the experiences of the older generation and placed specific emphasis on not letting themselves “get carried away.”
Peter K. C. St. Jean
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226774985
- eISBN:
- 9780226775005
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226775005.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
Why, even in the same high-crime neighborhoods, do robbery, drug dealing, and assault occur much more frequently on some blocks than on others? One popular theory is that a weak sense of community ...
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Why, even in the same high-crime neighborhoods, do robbery, drug dealing, and assault occur much more frequently on some blocks than on others? One popular theory is that a weak sense of community among neighbors can create conditions more hospitable for criminals, and another proposes that neighborhood disorder—such as broken windows and boarded-up buildings—makes crime more likely. But this study argues that we cannot fully understand the impact of these factors without considering that, because urban space is unevenly developed, different kinds of crimes occur most often in locations that offer their perpetrators specific advantages. Drawing on Chicago Police Department statistics and extensive interviews with both law-abiding citizens and criminals in one of the city's highest-crime areas, the author demonstrates that drug dealers and robbers, for example, are primarily attracted to locations with businesses like liquor stores, fast food restaurants, and check-cashing outlets. By accounting for these important factors of spatial positioning, he expands upon previous research to provide a comprehensive explanation of why crime occurs where it does.Less
Why, even in the same high-crime neighborhoods, do robbery, drug dealing, and assault occur much more frequently on some blocks than on others? One popular theory is that a weak sense of community among neighbors can create conditions more hospitable for criminals, and another proposes that neighborhood disorder—such as broken windows and boarded-up buildings—makes crime more likely. But this study argues that we cannot fully understand the impact of these factors without considering that, because urban space is unevenly developed, different kinds of crimes occur most often in locations that offer their perpetrators specific advantages. Drawing on Chicago Police Department statistics and extensive interviews with both law-abiding citizens and criminals in one of the city's highest-crime areas, the author demonstrates that drug dealers and robbers, for example, are primarily attracted to locations with businesses like liquor stores, fast food restaurants, and check-cashing outlets. By accounting for these important factors of spatial positioning, he expands upon previous research to provide a comprehensive explanation of why crime occurs where it does.
Sandra M. Bucerius
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199856473
- eISBN:
- 9780199398133
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199856473.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance, Race and Ethnicity
This study builds on five years of ethnographic research with an all-male group of fifty-five Muslim second-generation immigrant drug dealers in Frankfurt, Germany, and examines the relationship ...
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This study builds on five years of ethnographic research with an all-male group of fifty-five Muslim second-generation immigrant drug dealers in Frankfurt, Germany, and examines the relationship among immigration, social exclusion, and the informal economy. In particular, the study explores the intimate and interactive aspects of the lives of this group of second-generation Muslim immigrants, who belong to one of, if not the most, discriminated against and socially excluded populations in German society. Bucerius examines how the young men negotiate their participation in the drug economy while still trying to adhere to their cultural and religious obligations and explores their struggle to find their own niche and identity within German society while facing marginalization. She offers detailed and reflective insights into the lives, hopes, and dreams of these young men and provides the reader with the necessary context to understand their actions while never trying to obscure the many contradictions and unpicturesque facets of their lives. Bucerius’s ethnography is written in the traditions of contemporary ethnographies that contribute to a conversation that is relational and dialogic in nature, solicit emotional connection, encourage involvement, and facilitate intimate revelations in both the researcher and the audience. As such, the book contains a narration of personal and local stories, thick descriptions of contexts, revelatory dialogues, and her personal experience and reflections.Less
This study builds on five years of ethnographic research with an all-male group of fifty-five Muslim second-generation immigrant drug dealers in Frankfurt, Germany, and examines the relationship among immigration, social exclusion, and the informal economy. In particular, the study explores the intimate and interactive aspects of the lives of this group of second-generation Muslim immigrants, who belong to one of, if not the most, discriminated against and socially excluded populations in German society. Bucerius examines how the young men negotiate their participation in the drug economy while still trying to adhere to their cultural and religious obligations and explores their struggle to find their own niche and identity within German society while facing marginalization. She offers detailed and reflective insights into the lives, hopes, and dreams of these young men and provides the reader with the necessary context to understand their actions while never trying to obscure the many contradictions and unpicturesque facets of their lives. Bucerius’s ethnography is written in the traditions of contemporary ethnographies that contribute to a conversation that is relational and dialogic in nature, solicit emotional connection, encourage involvement, and facilitate intimate revelations in both the researcher and the audience. As such, the book contains a narration of personal and local stories, thick descriptions of contexts, revelatory dialogues, and her personal experience and reflections.
Sandra M. Bucerius
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199856473
- eISBN:
- 9780199398133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199856473.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance, Race and Ethnicity
Leaning on Mary Douglas’ concepts of purity and impurity and Max Weber’s concept of irrationalities, this chapter examines how the actors in markets do not always have utilitarian reasons for their ...
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Leaning on Mary Douglas’ concepts of purity and impurity and Max Weber’s concept of irrationalities, this chapter examines how the actors in markets do not always have utilitarian reasons for their actions but are often driven by less rational forces. The young men placed a strong emphasis on their distinct notions of purity and impurity, which were influenced by their cultural and religious ideas and their concept of honor; these notions influenced their behavior within the drug market, including their choices of substances to sell, business partners, and customers, and the degree of violence in which they were willing to engage.Less
Leaning on Mary Douglas’ concepts of purity and impurity and Max Weber’s concept of irrationalities, this chapter examines how the actors in markets do not always have utilitarian reasons for their actions but are often driven by less rational forces. The young men placed a strong emphasis on their distinct notions of purity and impurity, which were influenced by their cultural and religious ideas and their concept of honor; these notions influenced their behavior within the drug market, including their choices of substances to sell, business partners, and customers, and the degree of violence in which they were willing to engage.
Simon Harding
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781529203073
- eISBN:
- 9781529210101
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529203073.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter evaluates the complex set of inter-personal relationships between the user community and county line operatives, starting with cuckooing and the development of a cuckooing typology. ...
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This chapter evaluates the complex set of inter-personal relationships between the user community and county line operatives, starting with cuckooing and the development of a cuckooing typology. Cuckooing is not new, but for years remained ‘hidden’ within housing or policing reports of ‘crack dens’, largely overlooked or unrecognised as criminal exploitation and downplayed as a ‘type of manipulation’. Essentially, it is a form of criminal exploitation where vulnerable people are conned, coerced, controlled, or intimidated into sharing, providing, or offering up their accommodation to criminals (often drug dealers) who then use it to base their criminal activity (often drug dealing). Methods vary; however, intimidation and violence often underpin this. It is now widely associated with county line networks. The chapter then considers the views of both users and dealers as they offer insights into their often complex relationships and how they feel about county lines.Less
This chapter evaluates the complex set of inter-personal relationships between the user community and county line operatives, starting with cuckooing and the development of a cuckooing typology. Cuckooing is not new, but for years remained ‘hidden’ within housing or policing reports of ‘crack dens’, largely overlooked or unrecognised as criminal exploitation and downplayed as a ‘type of manipulation’. Essentially, it is a form of criminal exploitation where vulnerable people are conned, coerced, controlled, or intimidated into sharing, providing, or offering up their accommodation to criminals (often drug dealers) who then use it to base their criminal activity (often drug dealing). Methods vary; however, intimidation and violence often underpin this. It is now widely associated with county line networks. The chapter then considers the views of both users and dealers as they offer insights into their often complex relationships and how they feel about county lines.
Mohammed Qasim
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781447341482
- eISBN:
- 9781447341536
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447341482.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This chapter looks at how The Boys would go about their drug dealing. Selling drugs was a risky business, so in order to evade detection from the police, The Boys had to be discreet. Drug dealing ...
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This chapter looks at how The Boys would go about their drug dealing. Selling drugs was a risky business, so in order to evade detection from the police, The Boys had to be discreet. Drug dealing also involved shrewdness, the activity in many ways being similar to running a business. This meant buying drugs as cheaply as possible and then trying to sell them on to make maximum profit. The Boys consumed drugs, but what they used themselves differed from what they sold. Many of the young men also drank alcohol, with some of them drinking heavily and often. The chapter examines the challenges that drinking alcohol presented in a neighbourhood where most of the residents were Muslims.Less
This chapter looks at how The Boys would go about their drug dealing. Selling drugs was a risky business, so in order to evade detection from the police, The Boys had to be discreet. Drug dealing also involved shrewdness, the activity in many ways being similar to running a business. This meant buying drugs as cheaply as possible and then trying to sell them on to make maximum profit. The Boys consumed drugs, but what they used themselves differed from what they sold. Many of the young men also drank alcohol, with some of them drinking heavily and often. The chapter examines the challenges that drinking alcohol presented in a neighbourhood where most of the residents were Muslims.
Sveinung Sandberg and Willy Pedersen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847421203
- eISBN:
- 9781447303602
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847421203.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter presents the life stories of three drug dealers – Daniel, Usman, and Hassan – who represent three different groups of dealers. It notes that the concept of ‘street capital’ helps one to ...
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This chapter presents the life stories of three drug dealers – Daniel, Usman, and Hassan – who represent three different groups of dealers. It notes that the concept of ‘street capital’ helps one to understand these marginalised men's different trajectories to street drug dealing. The chapter also presents Mette, the only female dealer interviewed. It notes that Daniel and his friends were the youngest group interviewed, and that most of them came from dysfunctional families and were drawn to The River by a sense of adventure. The chapter describes how Usman was part of an older group of dealers initiated into serious crime at an early age. It further describes Hassan's life story. Hassan belonged to a third group of dealers, which consisted of refugees who had all come to Norway in the relatively recent past and did not speak Norwegian well.Less
This chapter presents the life stories of three drug dealers – Daniel, Usman, and Hassan – who represent three different groups of dealers. It notes that the concept of ‘street capital’ helps one to understand these marginalised men's different trajectories to street drug dealing. The chapter also presents Mette, the only female dealer interviewed. It notes that Daniel and his friends were the youngest group interviewed, and that most of them came from dysfunctional families and were drawn to The River by a sense of adventure. The chapter describes how Usman was part of an older group of dealers initiated into serious crime at an early age. It further describes Hassan's life story. Hassan belonged to a third group of dealers, which consisted of refugees who had all come to Norway in the relatively recent past and did not speak Norwegian well.
A. P. Simester and A. T. H. Smith (eds)
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198260578
- eISBN:
- 9780191682124
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198260578.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This book draws together original and significant chapters from a number of leading authorities which identify areas of the modern criminal law where there are significant conceptual difficulties. ...
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This book draws together original and significant chapters from a number of leading authorities which identify areas of the modern criminal law where there are significant conceptual difficulties. The project developed from a series of seminars in Cambridge University, in which leading Anglo-American philosophers, criminal lawyers, and legal theorists explored subjects such as attempts, intention, justification, excuses, coercion, complicity, drug-dealing, and criminal harm. The topics covered in this collection were chosen for their topicality as well as their theoretical and practical significance.Less
This book draws together original and significant chapters from a number of leading authorities which identify areas of the modern criminal law where there are significant conceptual difficulties. The project developed from a series of seminars in Cambridge University, in which leading Anglo-American philosophers, criminal lawyers, and legal theorists explored subjects such as attempts, intention, justification, excuses, coercion, complicity, drug-dealing, and criminal harm. The topics covered in this collection were chosen for their topicality as well as their theoretical and practical significance.
Oscar Palma
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781526105813
- eISBN:
- 9781526135988
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526105813.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Security Studies
The use of the concept of terrorism in Colombia, especially regarding who is a terrorist, has changed through the years according to the discourse, making it difficult to understand the phenomenon as ...
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The use of the concept of terrorism in Colombia, especially regarding who is a terrorist, has changed through the years according to the discourse, making it difficult to understand the phenomenon as a single one. Understanding terrorism, and the responses that the Colombian state has created to address it, requires identifying how specific agents have been categorized as terrorists according to the context. This chapter argues that instead of being an objective and continuous reality through the history of Colombia’s conflicts, terrorism has appeared as a result of the construction of discourses that have positioned specific agents as terror organizations. This categorization is not a simple matter of semantics; it has brought relevant policy implications related to the forms in which the state has responded to violent actors.Less
The use of the concept of terrorism in Colombia, especially regarding who is a terrorist, has changed through the years according to the discourse, making it difficult to understand the phenomenon as a single one. Understanding terrorism, and the responses that the Colombian state has created to address it, requires identifying how specific agents have been categorized as terrorists according to the context. This chapter argues that instead of being an objective and continuous reality through the history of Colombia’s conflicts, terrorism has appeared as a result of the construction of discourses that have positioned specific agents as terror organizations. This categorization is not a simple matter of semantics; it has brought relevant policy implications related to the forms in which the state has responded to violent actors.
Anne Warfield Rawls and Waverly Duck
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780226703558
- eISBN:
- 9780226703725
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226703725.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Psychology and Interaction
In this chapter we consider a poor Black neighborhood in which the primary occupation is drug dealing that has been the target of outside interference for decades. Here we find that contrary to ...
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In this chapter we consider a poor Black neighborhood in which the primary occupation is drug dealing that has been the target of outside interference for decades. Here we find that contrary to popular belief, drug dealers are valued insiders who are key to the stability and safety of the neighborhood, while police and other outsiders, including landlords, are the main threat. This chapter illustrates Du Bois’s argument that Black Americans have organized a fundamentally egalitarian “nation” behind the veil of race. Building on a series of narratives we show how the residents of this poor Black neighborhood have organized themselves in such a way that they feel safe and give each other much needed respect and self-esteem. We propose that they are actually safer in this neighborhood when the local Interaction Order is working than they would be elsewhere. The problem is that the police and other outsiders constantly disrupt the local order that residents count on. Narratives from long term law-abiding residents about how they don’t trust the police, but instead trust mutual commitments between residents (including drug dealers), make for a set of Interaction Order expectations that are very different from those of the White middle class.Less
In this chapter we consider a poor Black neighborhood in which the primary occupation is drug dealing that has been the target of outside interference for decades. Here we find that contrary to popular belief, drug dealers are valued insiders who are key to the stability and safety of the neighborhood, while police and other outsiders, including landlords, are the main threat. This chapter illustrates Du Bois’s argument that Black Americans have organized a fundamentally egalitarian “nation” behind the veil of race. Building on a series of narratives we show how the residents of this poor Black neighborhood have organized themselves in such a way that they feel safe and give each other much needed respect and self-esteem. We propose that they are actually safer in this neighborhood when the local Interaction Order is working than they would be elsewhere. The problem is that the police and other outsiders constantly disrupt the local order that residents count on. Narratives from long term law-abiding residents about how they don’t trust the police, but instead trust mutual commitments between residents (including drug dealers), make for a set of Interaction Order expectations that are very different from those of the White middle class.
Sveinung Sandberg and Willy Pedersen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847421203
- eISBN:
- 9781447303602
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847421203.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter identifies how experiences at school, in the job market, with racism, and as refugees are important to understanding why the young men ended up dealing drugs at The River. In addition, ...
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This chapter identifies how experiences at school, in the job market, with racism, and as refugees are important to understanding why the young men ended up dealing drugs at The River. In addition, it shows how many of them developed strong subcultural identities over time. The chapter notes that as ‘foreigners’, the young men capitalised on a kind of ‘otherness’, and from a subordinate position they developed counter-strategies. It explains that these strategies built self-confidence and ethnic pride, which, however, also reinforced processes of marginalisation.Less
This chapter identifies how experiences at school, in the job market, with racism, and as refugees are important to understanding why the young men ended up dealing drugs at The River. In addition, it shows how many of them developed strong subcultural identities over time. The chapter notes that as ‘foreigners’, the young men capitalised on a kind of ‘otherness’, and from a subordinate position they developed counter-strategies. It explains that these strategies built self-confidence and ethnic pride, which, however, also reinforced processes of marginalisation.
Simon Harding
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781447317173
- eISBN:
- 9781447317197
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447317173.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This chapter considers how street capital is maintained which is done by being tested by Olders. This testing allows members to transition from the expressive to the instrumental repertoire. Examples ...
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This chapter considers how street capital is maintained which is done by being tested by Olders. This testing allows members to transition from the expressive to the instrumental repertoire. Examples of robbery are given as illustrative of the instrumental repertoire. Drug dealing is also addressed as an example of maximising street capital. Gang members also play to win in the social field through the use of video and social networking sites. Group violence and gang inclusions are also reviewed as opportunities for maximising street capital.Less
This chapter considers how street capital is maintained which is done by being tested by Olders. This testing allows members to transition from the expressive to the instrumental repertoire. Examples of robbery are given as illustrative of the instrumental repertoire. Drug dealing is also addressed as an example of maximising street capital. Gang members also play to win in the social field through the use of video and social networking sites. Group violence and gang inclusions are also reviewed as opportunities for maximising street capital.